Their budget was $50 for flagging tape which is cheap. Everything else was reused.

The 2 outside trees used a wider 2″ wide tape. The other smaller trees used the standard size. Other than that, they used various sized white paper lanterns, fishing line and pvc pipe.

To achieve the bottom curve of the trees, they took PVC pipe and curved it into a half circle and screwed it to the platform. Then from there, they tied the flagging tape to it in predetermined spacing. The large 20′ trees where attached to the structure at the top. The smaller trees had a 2×2 in the center attached to the floor and painted black so it disappeared.

The paper lanterns were placed inside using fishing line.

The trees were up lit by LEDs on both the outside and also inside so they could play around with colors inside being different than the outside. This design took 8 volunteers about 4 hours to complete in one afternoon.

We used this design for our 2014 Christmas Stage Design. We do not have a fly system, so we couldn’t hang this from above. I used Christmas tree stands with Extension poles painted black. I worked great and allowed us to determine the height.

We used this design for our 2014 Christmas stage design at Oakbrook Community Church in Jonesville, SC, but on a smaller scale. It was a big hit with our congregation and wasn’t that hard to complete. Thanks for giving us such a wonderful design and allowing us to use it.

I’m still waiting on anyone to throw out an idea for how the flagging tape could be gathered together and affixed to stay up.

But as far as the paper lanterns, I’m planning on hanging them from fishing line. Since it’s practically invisible, I will suspend them from any place in the ceiling to arrange them within the tree shape. So they will each be hanging straight down from varying lengths of “invisible” fishing line. Does that help?

I plan on using 1/2″ PVC for the base of the tree. It will bend a great deal and you can use a variety of connectors to get the size you need. I can’t work from the ceiling so I am going to use three more PVC pipes to form the upright tree. I plan on painting the PVC pipe white to get rid of the printing on it. The tape should hide the pipe. I’m not sure yet if I will need a center support. To get the decorations to hang in different places, I am going to screw very small eye screws into the three upright PVC pipes at different heights and then run fish line through them. I should then be able to hang the decorations using fish line in any area.

We don’t have much floor space so I am only making one floor tree, but I am also going to make split trees to hang on the walls. Being frugal, I plan on using the white and silver decorations we already have and then add some larger ones.

Safety Warning

Please look into the safety of these stage designs for yourself. Fire and rigging safety is very important, and different states/countries have different fire codes. Refer to this safety article and always ensure you use fire-retardant materials or treatments.